One bad inning does in Wild Things
Call it eight good innings and one very bad one.
It was bad enough to cost the Wild Things a win.
Jordan DiValerio, Washington’s starting pitcher Tuesday night against Lake Erie, was cruising through five innings, having allowed only one baserunner.
The righthander was in complete control. He had not issued a walk. He had four 1-2-3 innings. He had not thrown a pitch with a Crushers runner in scoring position. He was making it look easy.
Then the game blew up on DiValerio and the Wild Things in the sixth inning, like one of those Mission Impossible tapes. A quality start and win were gone in minutes.
Lake Erie scored six runs before committing an out in the sixth and went on to a 6-2 victory at EQT Park in a game between the top two teams in the Frontier League’s Central Division.
The loss trimmed Washington’s lead to 2½ games over the second-place Crushers.
DiValerio (4-2) and Washington led 2-0 entering the sixth inning, but Lake Erie’s Jordan Harrison-Dudley hit a leadoff home run to center field, Jarrod Watkins added a two-run single that put Lake Erie on top 3-2, and designated hitter Vincent Byrd Jr., smacked a three-run homer to right centerfield, just out of the reach of Jeff Liquori, who made a leaping attempt at the wall in right centerfield.
DiValerio went seven innings, allowing six hits, six runs and one walk. He struck out six.
Washington did little to help itself at the plate. The Wild Things were held to three hits by Lake Erie starter Ethan Smith (3-3) and four relievers. Washington did draw seven walks and had two batters hit by pitches, but they also ran into two key outs on the bases.
One of those baserunning outs came in the fifth when Cael Chatham tried to advance from first base to second on a pitch that bounced off Lake Erie catcher and former major leaguer Alfredo Gonzalez. Chatham was thrown out, and on the next pitch Tommy Caufield hit a solo home run over the video board beyond right field to give the Wild Things a 2-0 lead.
The Wild Things had only one hit with a runner in scoring, that being an RBI single in the third by Tyreque Reed that drove in Kadon Morton and gave Washington a 1-0 lead.
Smith pitched five innings, allowing two hits and two runs. He walked three and struck out five.
Extra bases
Washington manager Tom Vaeth was ejected in the bottom of the sixth by third-base umpire Jimmy Sapp. It was Vaeth’s third ejection of the season. … Washington relief pitcher Christian Diaz, who was signed Monday, made his Wild Things debut in the ninth inning and retired all three hitters he faced. … Before the game, Washington signed catcher Charles Mack, a former sixth-round draft of the Minnesota Twins. He started and batted eighth in the lineup. Mack went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. … Today’s 1:05 p.m. game will be the final stop on an 11-game road trip for Lake Erie. The Wild Things and Crushers will play Thursday in Avon, Ohio. That contest will start a 10-game road trip for Washington. The next home game is July 8 (10:35 a.m.) against Evansville.